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Stonehenge
London Eye |
England
AREA: 130,423
sq. km (50,356 sq. miles).
POPULATION: 49,089,100
(official estimate 1996).
POPULATION DENSITY: 376.4
per sq. km.
CAPITAL: London.
Population: 7,074,300 (Greater London,
1996).
LANGUAGE: English. There are an enormous
number of local dialects throughout the country, as well as differences
in accents depending on your class and whether you live in the town
or country. This all goes to make English a language of incredible
diversity. In the South-West, the Cornish language is still spoken
by some people in Cornwall. In the larger cities, particularly the
very cosmopolitan London, there are many communities who do not speak
English as a first language and the influence of their own mother
tongue adds even more variety to the English language. |
Coast |
GEOGRAPHY: Much
of the countryside is relatively flat, consisting of green plains
and gentle hills. Mountains, moors and steeper hills are found mainly
in the North and the West; the Lake District (Cumbria) and the North-West
are divided from the Yorkshire Dales and the North-East by the Pennines,
a mountain range known as 'the backbone of England'. The eastern part
of the country, particularly East Anglia, is the most low-lying. The
coastline is varied, and ranges from long stretches of sandy beaches,
such as in Bournemouth, to steep cliffs and isolated rocky coves. |
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Buckingham Palace in Westminster is the official London
residence of the British monarch. Its interior, open to the public
during August and September while the Queen is on holiday, contains
many elegantly furnished apartments and noted collections of paintings.
Money raised from the summer visits go toward repairing Windsor
Castle, a royal residence located just outside London that was damaged
by fire in 1992. Outside Buckingham Palace, the famous 'changing
of the guard' also takes place.
See
a video of the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.
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Buckingham Palace
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